Donor Stories

Earl Carlson: Making a gift and having an impact

Dr. Carlson established the Eleanor Carlson Endowed Graduate Fellowship in Psychology. The goals of both endowments are to support research on the effects of socioeconomic and cultural inequalities on the psychological and physical resources that children evolve that contribute to successful and happy lives. Important parts of this include study of impediments to success and well-being and study of the beliefs and misconceptions people have about why people are successful or not successful.

Hunt Fellowship: Helping to Support Graduate Student Independence

Buz and Mary Lou Hunt tailored the focus of their gift to match what they saw as a growing problem for graduate students seeking to conduct independent research. As Buz explains, “The fellowship is to be used to support a graduate student who wishes to explore thesis work outside of the purview of the advisor’s grants. I always tried to find a way to sponsor graduate student ideas, and over the last few years I have become concerned that, with increasing grant competition, faculty PIs are forced to take a very narrow view of what they can let a graduate student do. To me, this defeats the purpose of the Ph.D...to let someone become an independent investigator.”

Aric Chandler Memorial Fund for Undergraduate Student Support

Aric Joseph Chandler (May 27, 1994 - August 04, 2016)

On August 4, 2016, Aric Chandler passed away unexpectedly in his sleep from a fatal complication of epilepsy called Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy or SUDEP. He was registered to attend the University of Washington after receiving his Associate Degree at Bellevue College. Aric had planned to earn a degree from the Psychology Department that would enable him to pursue his dream of helping others. To honor his memory, Aric’s family and friends have set up the Aric Chandler Memorial Fund for Undergraduate Student Support. The endowment will benefit undergraduate transfer students in to the UW Department of Psychology from a Washington State two- or four-year colleges. Each year, the UW Department of Psychology welcomes approximately 140 transfer students from around the state. We thank Aric’s family and friends for their thoughtful gift. The UW Psychology Department looks forward to celebrating Aric’s legacy and helping others to fulfill their dreams in his honor. You can join Aric’s family and friends to complete Aric's life's work by clicking the link below.

Nathaniel (Ned) Wagner Memorial Endowment Fund

The Nathaniel (Ned) Wagner Memorial Endowment Fund was established in the early 1980s following the death of Nathaniel N. Wagner, our Director of Clinical Training. It was funded initially with seed money from a departmental honorarium provided by the Western Psychological Association for hosting their 1979 convention in Seattle (Ned was the Convention Manager), and from a special bank account that Ned established and funded by contributing his own speakers fees for the support of graduate students, to whom he wrote personal checks. After his death, and endowment was established and the department has used the Ned Wagner fund to support graduate student travel to conferences where they are presenting their work, and it has funded hundreds of trips over the years. Currently, we are supporting five students per year. All gifts to this fund will go to increasing our ability to support our students.